Decent work and responsible business practices in the Philippine aquaculture sector

By focusing on a specific industry within a key Asian economy, the RISSC project serves as an entry point for advancing decent work throughout global supply chains. The project leverages the ILO’s established expertise in tripartite and consultative approaches, bringing together governments, employers, and workers to identify and address critical risks and opportunities within the Philippine aquaculture sector.

The following literature review provides an overview of the state of aquaculture on a national scale, focusing on shrimp and seaweed value chains.

Six (6) shrimp farm owners in Sasmuan, Pampanga participated in the study. All owned and operated extensive farms. Some farms practiced monoculture of P. monodon or P. vannamei, but most farms practiced polyculture, with milkfish, crabs, and shrimp grown in the same compartment. Farm size ranged from 6 to 70 hectares, with 7.5 hectares as the median. The farms use traditional aquaculture methods with minimal mechanization, such as manual opening of the dike gate to facilitate water exchange between the fishpond and the adjoining river during high and low tides. They do not do any additional filtration of the water going in or out of the fishponds.

Fifty (50) seaweed farmers in Zamboanga City participated in the study. They were interviewed in their residences during their rest hours. Barangay representatives, farmer association representatives, and the farmers themselves were informed of the study prior to the interviews. The farmer focus group discussion was held after the meeting to introduce them to the study.

At present, there is little to no awareness of RBC among stakeholders in the shrimp and seaweed sector. International RBC and sustainability-related requirements have not yet been cascaded to the sector. The farming segments of the sector sell their products to traders, who then consolidate the harvests of many small farmers and sell the consolidated harvests to processors. The processors perform additional processing of the product then either sell locally or to foreign buyers. Out of all the segments in the supply chain, the farming segments remain largely informal with significant decent work deficits and are unprepared for the implementation of RBC.

Integrated into the research design, the ILO Country Office for the Philippines conducted validation workshops to ensure that the findings and recommendations of the study are credible, actionable, and well-aligned with the intended users of the research, especially those from the aquaculture industry. The workshops, held across the country’s three main islands, were essential for validating and triangulating the research findings. The workshops enabled discussions to refine the general recommendations, including those that are sector-specific, identify challenges, and explore tools and mechanisms to support priority tripartite action in promoting decent work and responsible business conduct in the shrimp and seaweed sectors. A total of 117 participants attended the workshops, with women comprising almost half (48.7 per cent).

Based on the research findings and associated validation workshop results, the following recommendations have been developed with stakeholder-specific actions to address decent work deficits and promote responsible business conduct in the aquaculture sector.

This study explores the challenges and opportunities of the Philippine aquaculture industry, a sector with significant economic contribution to the country’s total fisheries production and fisheries exports but with limited research on the aspects of decent work and responsible business practices. Through a targeted literature review and key informant interviews, the study was able to (1) map the supply chain structure and composition of two aquaculture products—shrimp and seaweed, (2) delve into existing working practices and how these align to decent work and responsible business frameworks, and (3) identify stakeholder-specific actions to advance decent work and responsible business practices in the aquaculture sector.